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Feaster: Just a matter of time until Tortorella returns

Calgary Flames v Vancouver Canucks

Calgary Flames v Vancouver Canucks

Rich Lam

John Tortorella has been a head coach in part or all of the last 14 NHL campaigns. Could 2014-15 be the season that ends that streak?

Tortorella won the Stanley Cup with Tampa Bay in 2004, has a 446-375-37-78 coaching record, and his teams have advanced to the playoffs in eight of the last 11 seasons. He was also fired by the New York Rangers and Vancouver within the span of a year and his tenure with the Canucks couldn’t have gone much worse.

Was that the final nail in the coffin though or will the controversial 56-year-old coach get another shot? Jay Feaster, who served as the Lightning’s general manager during most of Tortorella’s run as the team’s bench boss, is betting on the latter.

“I think time heals all wounds,” Feaster said in an interview with the Fischler Report. “I don’t think for a minute that Torts was anything other than what people knew he was. I think Mike Gillis knew the issues, the positives and the negatives. In my mind the issue really came down to that infamous day when he decided to try to get in the locker room when [Calgary head coach] Bob Hartley was antagonizing.”

Feaster is referring to an incident that happened on Jan. 18 that involved Tortorella trying to get into the Calgary Flames locker room during the first intermission. Tortorella was riled up after the game started with a line brawl. He was suspended for 15 days for his actions.

It’s worth noting though that the Canucks’ decline predated that event. They got off to a 23-11-6 start, but were on a 2-5-3 stretch going into the game against Calgary. Vancouver finished the season 36-35-11 and ranked 28th in goals scored.

“I believe that John will get back,” Feaster added. “General managers in the league know he’s a good coach, and you take the good with the bad. Part of what makes him a good coach is that he does not have the political correctness gene. He is not worried about what you or me or what anybody else thinks about him – he’s going to do what he thinks is right. I think some time away, so time to decompress, I think that’ll be good for him.”

There are always teams that under perform during the regular season and some of them will attempt to shake things up by firing their head coach. As Feaster sees it, eventually one of them is going to bet on the idea that Tortorella can turn the season around.

Related:

Some thoughts on Torts, who was never a good idea for Vancouver

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